Setting up SSH on a VPS

May 4, 2025

SSH lets you safely connect to your VPS. It’s useful for running commands, updating files, and deploying apps. Here’s how to set it up.

Connect to Your VPS

When you get a VPS, your provider will usually send:

  • An IP address (e.g. 192.0.2.123)
  • A root username
  • A password or preloaded SSH key

To connect:

ssh root@192.0.2.123

If prompted about the authenticity of the host, type yes.

Create a New User

Running everything as root is dangerous. Create a user with sudo rights:

adduser yourname
usermod -aG sudo yourname

Switch to the new user:

su - yourname

Set Up SSH Keys

On your local machine:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "you@example.com"

Then send your key to the VPS:

ssh-copy-id yourname@192.0.2.123

If needed, manually copy your public key (~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub) to the server into ~/.ssh/authorized_keys.

Make sure permissions are strict:

chmod 700 ~/.ssh
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys

Harden SSH Configuration

Edit the SSH server config:

sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Recommended changes:

PermitRootLogin no
PasswordAuthentication no
PubkeyAuthentication yes

Then restart SSH:

sudo systemctl restart ssh

Test Before You Close

Do not log out yet, open a new terminal and test:

ssh yourname@192.0.2.123

Make sure you can log in before closing the root session.

Change Default Port

For a bit of extra stealth, change the default SSH port (22):

sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Set:

Port 2222

Restart:

sudo systemctl restart ssh

Then connect like this:

ssh -p 2222 yourname@192.0.2.123

Your VPS is now set up with SSH and ready to use.